‘Once Upon a Time’ Creators Talk Finale and Storybrooke’s Twisted Magic

Even though writers and producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz worked on Lost for six years, it’s a whole new ballgame to launch a new series. Thankfully for them, ABC’s Once Upon a Time not only found an audience but recently was renewed for a second season.

“As far as we were concerned, we were starting over,” Kitsis tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So, we said we have to start from the ground up and earn every fan we can and to have them like it a year later is really, really gratifying.”

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“As to why people like it, it’s funny because the original Snow White came out in 1937 in the height of the depression,” he continues. “And I think that we are in uncertain times. Our show is not a cynical show. It’s a show for believers and I think, sometimes, people just want to believe.”

THR spoke to the men about magic existing in the show’s “real world” along with other unanswered questions going into the finale and its epic showdown.

The Hollywood Reporter: We recently discovered that there’s magic in Storybrooke after being led to believe that it wasn’t possible. How will you explain that?
Edward Kitsis: That is kind of what gets explored in the finale. And the one thing that we do know is that magic always has a price. But when you introduce magic into a place where it has never been before, it is unpredictable and it is in uncontrollable and I would say that’s kind of how we’re going to go into the finale.

THR: Henry is the victim of a sleeping curse. What can you say about the theory that it can be broken by true love’s kiss – such as his mother’s kiss?
Kitsis: I think that all these things are going to be explored in the finale and I think that the main thing is that what worked in the enchanted forest doesn’t necessarily always work here the same way.

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THR: Jane Espenson told us she has a good feeling about Mary-Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) and David’s (Josh Dallas) relationship in the finale. What can we expect?
Adam Horowitz: Obviously, all year we’ve pulled them apart and put them together and we’ve given David a curse wife that he cheated on and they’ve had a very complicated relationship. And I think that in the finale, we are hoping to really kind of explore more about who they are. Their relationship will continue to evolve and be complicated in, hopefully, new and surprising ways starting with the finale.

THR: Mr. Gold (Robert Carlyle) reveals a new layer of his character in practically every episode. As the season winds down, what will we learn about his end game?
Kitsis: We’ve definitely learned, oh, he was the village coward and oh, he chose magic over his son and he has a lot of regret. But at the same time, we never know his motive. He makes a deal to get out of a battery charge with Regina, but then doesn’t follow through with it. But yet, he never lies. He always seems to be able to thread the loopholes of a contract. So, what we love about Mr. Gold is every time you learn something new about him, there’s also something that you want to know more about him. And I would say that definitely continues in the finale.

THR: Guest stars Jamie Dornan, Emilie de Ravin, Kristin Bauer and Sebastian Stan return for the finale. What will they have to do with the episode’s epic showdown?
Kitsis: They come back in fun and surprising ways, which we don’t want to spoil for anyone. But, there is an epic showdown that happens in the finale. But we feel like it, hopefully, is done and executed in a way that will surprise people.

The Once Upon a Time finale airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro